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165
The Aeroplane Speaks. Fifth Edition
·
H. Barber
6
"I'm
the
High
Aspect
Ratio,"
he
said,
"and
what
we
have
got
to
do
to
help
this
young
lady
is
to
improve
the
proportion
of
Lift
to
Drift.
The
more
Lift
we
can
get
for
a
certain
area
of
Surface,
the
greater
the
Weight
the
latter
can
carry;
and
the
less
the
Drift,
then
the
less
Thrust
and
Power
required
to
overcome
it.
Now
it
is
a
fact
that,
if
the
Surface
is
shaped
to
have
the
greatest
possible
span,
i.e.,
distance
from
wing-tip
to
wing-tip,
it
then
engages
more
air
and
produces
both
a
maximum
Reaction
and
a
better
proportion
of
Lift
to
Drift.
"That
being
so,
we
can
then
well
afford
to
lose
a
little
Reaction
by
reducing
the
Angle
of
Incidence
to
a
degree
giving
a
still
better
proportion
of
Lift
to
Drift
than
would
otherwise
be
the
case;
for
you
must
understand
that
the
Lift-Drift
Ratio
depends
very
much
upon
the
size
of
the
Angle
of
Incidence,
which
should
be
as
small
as
possible
within
certain
limits.
So
what
I
say
is,
make
the
surface
of
Infinite
Span
with
no
width
or
chord,
as
they
call
it.
That's
all
I
require,
I
assure
you,
to
make
me
quite
perfect
and
of
infinite
service
to
Miss
Efficiency."
"That's
not
practical
politics,"
said
the
Surface.
"The
way
you
talk
one
would
think
you
were
drawing
£400
a
year
at
Westminster,
and
working
up
a
reputation
as
an
Aeronautical
Expert.
I
must
have
some
depth
and
chord
to
take
my
Spars
and
Ribs,
and
again,
I
must
have
a
certain
chord
to
make
it
possible
for
my
Camber
(that's
curvature)
to
be
just
right
for
the
Angle
of
Incidence.
If
that's
not
right
the
air
won't
get
a
nice
uniform
compression
and
downward
acceleration
from
my
underside,
and
the
rarefied
'suction'
area
over
the
top
of
me
will
not
be
as
even
and
clean
in
effect
as
it
might
be.
That
would
spoil
the
Lift-Drift
Ratio
more
than
you
can
help
it.
Just
thrust
that
chalk
along,
will
you?
and
the
Blackboard
will
show
you
what
I
mean."
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